When

When

did she

get so

big?

{Sigh}



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A little of Zoe's bday/Easter party

I hope you guys had a beautiful Easter. 

 We had an amazing one. 

We spent it with family and also had Zoe's birthday party. 

Eli and I had an overwhelming sense of piece at the Easter

service.  I was teary for all of worship just overcome with

what Jesus did for me.  

He has been working in us, changing us, preparing us.  

It is amazing what only God can do. 

My next post I am going to do a giveaway. 

I loved my last giveaway. 

 I loved getting to know you guys. 

I am trying to think of a question to ask everyone for the

giveaway.  I would love some suggestions. 

I will leave you to think of some with way to many pictures of

our Easter/Zoe's 1st Birthday party.

Yummy

Daddy can I really eat it?

My very talented Mom made this cookie house for the kids

 The boys with the best Grandpa in the world

 Zoe is supposed to be opening her presents but notice that her brother's and sister's are the only ones holding her presents {they were very eager to help}

This one isn't very clear but I love the way Zoe looks sitting there and she really loved the piano

Didn't get many of Max....the party was during his nap time so he was a little grouchy.

 {but still adorable}

 Look at Zoe's tongue on this one it was dyed for the day from the icing on the cake.  She had a very pink tongue.

Alright so lets get nosey and think of some questions that 

me and the rest of you will have to answer for the giveaway. 

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

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One

This spunky little beauty is ONE today!

This is a very emotional day because Eli and I realize how

lucky we are to get to share this first birthday with her

I remember the first day I held her 5 months ago.

She was a timid little thing. 

She clung to me for dear life for a good couple months. 

She spent most of her time in my "pocket".

Now she is a gorgeous little giggle box with a

head full of curls. 

 She trusts us now and she is quickly taking over.

She bosses all 6 of us around {seriously}.

She is just days away from walking and she is so proud of

herself when we all clap for her efforts.

Her favorite food is anything on Max's plate. 

Seriously I could give her the same exact thing as Max and

she will crawl over to Max's plate and eat off of his instead. 

Max doesn't find this to be so cute.

She is so loud and already has such a fun sense of humor.

She still loves her cuddles and hugs and I hope she never out

grows this.  I think Eli and I melt every time she hugs us. 

It never gets old.

Zoe Lucia God couldn't have given us a more perfect baby. 

I can't wait to see you smash cake all over your face

{because I know you will}

Happy Birthday!

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Macaroni

This little giggle box

{If you could hear the giggle that comes with this smile you would melt}

She is such a picky eater

I mean the worst I have ever seen

She wants and craves junk

Before she came to our house she was used to soda and fast

food at just 6 months old so she hasn't been to happy with the

healthier options I have been offereing her. 

This face below cracks me up because it is the same look she

gives me when I try to shove some veggies in her mouth.  She

will close her mouth as tight as she can and give me that look

"yeah right I am not going to put that in my mouth"

Let me tell you Zoe has more personality then most adults I

know.  Oh I love her!

So last night I made an exception  we had macaroni and

cheese with our dinner.  Zoe wasn't even trying any of the

food I had for her and she was screaming at all of us to

share.   So I decided why not I would make an exception and

scooped some Macoroni on her plate.  She ate and she ate

like I haven't feed her anything for the last 4 months. 

 Can you tell she loves macaroni?

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Progress

When I think back to the first couple weeks with

Elizabeth, Max and Zoe

I am amazed with the work God has already

done in them.

 When Zoe first got here she was a timid little thing that

would barely let me put her down.  She would never fully

relax in my lap and she wasn't crawling.  Now she is a little

giggle box.  She still loves to be held but it doesn't have to be

all the time.  She is now crawling all over the place and trying

to stand.  The best change in her is that in the last couple

weeks she has finally totally relaxed her self in  

my arms and laid her sweet little head on my chest. 

It melts me every time.   

She is finally starting to trust me. 

We still have goals with her she still gets extremely upset in a

matter of seconds she will go from giggling to screaming and

crying.  Like if she is playing happily and she sees me walk by

she will be in immediate hysteria as if someone slapped her

just because she wants to be held.  We are really praying that

this phase will also pass soon because she seems extra fussy

at dinner time.  I always feed her first and change her but

the second I put her down if it is anytime after 5 she will be

screaming.  This makes it hard when my husband is still

working and I am trying to cook dinner for the other kids.  It

is to dangerous for her to be in the sling when I am cooking

over a hot stove.  I need to master wearing her on my back

but still haven't gotten that down.

I think Max has gone through the most changes.  The first

couple weeks he was here he spent most of his time on the

time out step.  Poor guy.  Any chance he would get he would

hit, bite, scratch and spit.  He barely mumbled a word.  The

only time he would say anything is if he was mimicking his

siblings.  Whenever it was meal time he would run to the

table and shove his food in his mouth with two hands and

guzzle his drink down like it was the first meal he had seen in

months.  I was so excited when last week he only took a bite

of his toast at breakfast and went to play before he finished

it.  Most parents want there kids to sit and finish there food

but I was so excited inside when he did that because it means

he is trusting us and knows that there will be more food.

 He has started to initiate communication with me by saying

"Mommy" to me and pointing and asking for things.  I heard

him say "I want that"  while he was watching a

commercial after he heard Ayla say it.  It wasn't perfectly

clear but even a month ago he wasn't saying two words

together and barely even one.  His communication is still no

where near where it should be but to see all this progress in

only a couple months amazes me.  He is barely ever in time

out any more.  All the aggressive behavior is almost

completely gone.  He actually comes and tells on people now

instead of hitting back right away.  And instead of spitting at

people we taught him to blow kisses.  It is precious.

I am so proud of him.

The first couple weeks Elizabeth was here she would only

stay in the same room as me.  She talked non-stop and would

get upset if anyone else got attention.  She also wanted to be

held all day.  Now she goes off and plays and then finds me

for a cuddle but then is quickly back playing.  She also goes to

preschool two days a week now and she loves it.  We are still

working on her hatred of vegetables. She eats fruit and corn

on the cob but any other vegetable she refuses to eat.  We are

working on this.

I think Eli and I expected it to be so much harder than it has

been.  Maybe it is because we were foster parents and the

challenges we had with that don't even compare with what

we are going through.  These kids were never in foster care.  I

am so so thankful for that.  They came from a loving mother

that knew she wanted better for her kids.  Elizabeth, Max and

Zoe just fit right in with us.  God created them just for our

family.  They couldn't be a more perfect fit.  This is where

they are meant to be.  They are so

affectionate, happy and sweet. 

We couldn't love them anymore.

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Eli

 What would I do without this man?

I still get butterflies just looking at him. 

   He has been my rock. 

He gets me.

He isn't a couch and TV man

He is a cook

He is a cleaner and organizer

He is flirty

He is a good provider

He loves to play and snuggle with the kids

He loves God

He is an amazing musician

I wouldn't want to be on this beautiful journey with anybody

else.



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Snuggle

This is my favorite thing right now

When I hold Zoe she snuggles me so tight and grabs a fistful

of my shirt as if to say, "Don't ever let go."

This makes me melt. 

I always want to freeze that moment.

I love having a baby again, especially such a gorgeous snugly

one.  Watching all the other littles reminds me of how fast

this baby time goes.  Before I know it she will be off and

running with the rest of them. 

I hope she always comes back to me with her extra tight snuggle. 

Zoe is a little small for her age which I love.  Jackson and

Ayla were her size at 4 months old and she is 8 months. 

I am loving every minute of it.  Zoe and I have alot of bonding

to catch up on.  I love that she is starting to trust me.  She

seems so much more content then when she first moved in.  I

think she knows she is home now.



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1 week

So yesterday marked one weeks since our family grew from 4 to 7.  I feel so blessed that God trusted us with these kids.  The first couple days flew by...it felt like there was so much to do in such a small amount of time.  Somebody always needed something.  It is has only been a week and it feels like they have been here forever.  They settled into a schedule pretty quickly.  Today was the first day I went somewhere alone with all 5.  Eli is on our church worship team so he had to be there at 6:30 am to play for all three services. Which meant I was left to get all the kids ready, out the door and to church on time by myself.  I was successful!!!! I took a picture in the van on the way to church because I was so proud of myself {I was stopped at a light}.  We make the mini van look pretty mini, don't we?

After church we went out to eat and it was a complete success.  They all behaved and ate so well.  It honestly didn't feel any harder then when we would go out with just the two.  I am sure it won't always be that easy.  We did get a lot of looks of curiosity of our very mixed family but we were so proud of our family we didn't care.

Our Thanksgiving break was perfect.  The kids were all so well behaved and loving to their new extended family.

On Friday I took the four eldest each out on their own one on one date with me while Eli stayed with the rest.  It was so fun to have each of them to myself and focus only on them.  I think this is something we will do once a month.  I think when you have so many kids it is important to give each kid there own time.

I am not trying to sugar coat anything.  I am exhausted every night when I go to bed.  There is no way I can make all the kids happy at the same time. The house will never be clean again and we will probably always be tight on money.  The adoption is going to cost more then we thought. I have had some criticism and concern from people who just don't have the same heart for Orphans as I do.  They just don't understand why we would want to take this on.  That's OK. I will save that for another post.  We have also been blessed by lots of love and support.  We have had people buy diapers, formula, clothes.  We have had alot of people praying for us, encouraging us and supporting us every step of the way.  I will also write more about this in another post. I know that these children were meant for us and this is what God called our family to do.  Everyone is not called to adopt.  God has different plans for all of our lives.  I do hope that our story will encourage many more families to adopt or to help people who are adopting.   There are so so many children out there that need a loving family. I would make the same decision a million times over.  Our lives are so blessed with them here.  They had never had birthday parties, Christmas or church before and we are so lucky to see it for the first time through their eyes. It really has been easier then I expected.  I think it is because of how natural it is to love them.  It is the same as if I birthed them, they are ours and we are the lucky ones.  Here are the best picture I could get of all of them.  This was Sunday afternoon, we were all in the play room playing Wii while Eli {tried} to nap on the couch.



I never would have imagined that my life would be so full, so busy and so blessed!

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